J.Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Cole World’s best project to date, poignant & artful. He’s shown flashes of this kind of music, but he’s never put it together this way.

Phryme – Phryme

Royce & Preem. If that was all, you know how dope it is. On top of that the soundscape is built from samples of Adrian Younge’s catalog. It’s interesting to see Premiere draw from one source like this, plus Royce is rhyming his behind off.

D’Angelo & the Vanguard – Black Messiah

Another December 2014 entry. This on the account of being D’angelo is at the very least an incredibly important record, but add to that the interesting textural decisions in these compositions, & you get a soul record that people would have claimed impossible in this day & age.

2015:

Joey Bada$$ – B4.DA.$$.
People want to call the Pro.Era movement throwback, & it’s obvious that the 90s was a major influence, Joey is a new school emcee with old school flavor. Take a listen, this will surprise you by being polished & really well structured. From a 19 year old wunderkind…

Lupe Fiasco – Tetsuo & Youth
Only Lupe could open up a record with an 8 minute BAR FEST! BARS, BARS, BARS! Just pure emceeing that makes you listen over & over. What makes this great though is the content & Lupe’s ability to write lyrically intricate raps that few can match, while maintaining a topical approach that is unique & political.

Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow is My Turn
This Carolina Chocolate Drops member has one of the most beautiful voices. Pure in tone with a beautiful ability to imbue emotion with a moan or a growl or a whine, she’s able to carry classic songs with gravitas, & bring them to modern listeners in an approachable way.

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
This is an avant garde approach to Hip Hop in many ways, but it’s so rooted in traditional Black music. Soul, Jazz, Funk, & Gospel all make brief appearances here to create a distinct listening experience.

The Internet – Ego Death
Syd tha Kid & Matt Martians are bringing the R&B band to the new millennium. Ego Death features a polished production sound which isn’t surprising given the members of this band, & the sound features references to many different artists including Pharrell & N*E*R*D*, Dwele, Jamiroquai, & even some Sade. Combined with Syd’s fey, but earnest voice, makes for one of the best R&B records of recent memory.

SiR – Seven Sundays
Beautiful soulful stuff out of Inglewood. Sometimes seems to grow out of a Curtis Mayfield tradition, amazing arrangements & harmonies in the songs & an incredible voice. A short, single listen burst of dope modern R&B.

Doomtree – All Hands
One of the best respected crews in all of Hip Hop, Doomtree makes passionate hard-hitting music. Born out of a punk aesthetic but couldn’t be more straightforward with the beats & rhymes as these are some of the most technically inclined MCs in the game. This can make you think & make you dance.

Cecile McLorin Salvant – For One To Love
I can’t do enough to sing the praises of Ms. Salvant. Her ability to sing with style, class, range & a sincerely wicked sense of humor. She’s a reminder of the great jazz-singers, Etta, Billie, Sarah… & the Aaron Diehl trio which plays with her is just about perfect for her, a great match.

Rapper Big Pooh & Nottz – Home Sweet Home
I was sure this was gonna be good, Pooh over some Nottz from VA beats, that just sounds like a great record waiting to happen, but I never expected it to be nearly PERFECT. Pooh has always been a bit underrated, but on this he shines, particularly because these beats that Nottz put together for him, are absolutely magnificent.

Oddisee – The Good Fight
Oddisee is one of my favorites doing it today,as a producer & MC, & he keeps growing in both. He’s added some melodies to his flow, & he keeps upping the difficulty with rhymes & concepts. The Good fight is just another in a long series of excellent Hip Hop records.

Clear Soul Forces – Fab Five
The nerdiest of Rap, spit with dexterity & skill unmatched. It’s the kind of Rap music that people rarely hear. Its intelligent & referential without ever feeling corny or overwrought, & the production from AML alum Nameless, helps to carry the “Back Pack Sub-Woofer Rap” to crazy heights.

Jamison Ross – Jamison
Thelonious Monk award winner, Jamison Ross’s debut is all about showing the musician’s ability to do multiple things. A genius on the drums, his ability to lead a band, & to sing were rather unknown. This record is a complete show of his talents & definitely worth the pick-up.

Friday Night Live Most Played:
Swans: Gate
Useless Eaters: Live In San Francisco

Best In Show:
Cannibal Corpse
Cattle Decapitation

At Durty Nellies: Downtown Palatine!!!!!!

Best In Store:
Insane Clown Posse
@WP

KEVIN HEIN
2015 favs-
RELEASE OF THE YEAR
Telepath- Virtual Dreams Plaza (t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 – 仮想夢プラザ)
(I know, I know, it’s a travesty for me to put a digital release in my top slot, but i’d be a LIAR if I said anything else did it for me like this one does.. 31 tracks, each over 31 minutes long.. resented as a colossal 16 hour album. Ambient sample regurgitation/meditations ala Caretaker, gentle dreamy cascading loops that gradually and subtly change over the course of the track. Many of them sound vaguely familiar, recalling previous dreams and memories, both real & imagined. Each track really takes you to another world- seriously check this one out folks. A physical edition is coming early 2016!
-https://telepathtelepath.bandcamp.com/album/–32

~2015 most-played, most enjoyed- in no particular order~
Auscultation- L’Etreinte Imaginaire (Simply one of the best house records i’ve ever heard.. every second of this thing grooves like a motherfucker and is perfect in every way)
2814- Birth Of A New Day (Akin to floating above the violet haze of a neon lit metropolis at night- LPs coming to Reckless soon!)
V/A- Skyward Territories (the Difference Clouds side- new levels of Akira OST vibes. Futuristic cyberpunk noir at it’s best)
Charli XCX- Sucker (Bubblegum perfection, fun cranked to 11)
Jefre Cantu Ledesma- A Year With 13 Moons (Lush chorus of the Cocteaus meets the surf of Hecker’s blistering noise)
Grimes- Art Angels (Just like audible candy, so catchy and sticky and sickly sweet. Extremely polished and well produced, good luck topping this one)
Swervedriver- I wasn’t Born To Lose You (Real rock music, and the best “reunion” album since Dino Jr’s “Beyond”)
Drake- If You’re Reading This… (never thought i’d like Drizzy.. but I couldn’t ignore the ambience behind the beats.. the masterful production really pulls the listener into new sonic worlds)
Kyle Landstra- Unshared Properties (Contemporary meditative synthesis at it’s best, the rightful heir to Steve Roach’s throne)

Favorite label in 2015- Dream Catalogue
https://dreamcatalogue.bandcamp.com/
Say what you will about whatever “vaporwave” means.. ignore the hashtags, memes, and bad web art and just listen.. This label is installing dreams into your brain and putting out the music i’ve always wanted to hear. Very happy to announce that Reckless will be carrying Dream Catalogue tapes and LPs in 2016- keep your eyes peeled

Top 5 Singles (alphabetical order)
I don’t need to remind you about hits like 7/11 or BBHMM. Lean On was inescapable, and everybody has heard Take Me To Church and Uptown Funk. Here are my personal favorites.

FAVORITE MOVIE
Ex Machina
I take it you’re familiar with Oscar Isaac from Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen Brothers (if you haven’t seen that, just stop reading, and go watch that now). Well, here’s another film starring this talented actor. This taut sci-fi thriller is way more exciting than Gravity and The Martian and comes highly recommended!

C. Duncan “Architect” just about the only new music I listened to all year, apart from the new Bowie single, which I also thought was excellent

Television “Marquee Moon” one of the best records I’ve listened to in this or any other year; I tacked on some alternates + tracks from “Adventure” to make my own super Television mix

Wapassou “S/T” sure, it’s on Lion, but it’s one of my favorites of the year; i listen to my own releases more than anything else, since I have to shepherd them through all stages of production. Checking the masters means listening to something nine or ten times (at least).

Various “Duke Reid Treasure Chest” old o/p Heartbeat label collection, some of the purest music ever made…

the Deep “Psychedelic Moods of the Deep” 3xLP I just found out this morning that Rusty Evans (alias Marcus) died a couple of weeks ago. The person who told me about Rusty also pointed out that my label was the only one to ever issue Freak Scene (CD), Marcus (2xCD), and the Deep. I’m glad to have had a hand in promoting the legacy of one of the true greats of psychedelia. This set took a lot of twists and turns, which is why it ended up a triple LP; proud of how it came out (same with our Tin House LP+EP) even though the greater public doesn’t seem to know much about it, thanks to saturation bombing from the majors (too many LPs), the narrow focus of social media, etc. I sure wish there were more stores out there like Reckless… that’s a fact.

I’m sitting here at work listening to the 4 Men with Beards reissue of John Fahey’s Legendary 1968 album Voice of the Turtle and it reminded me of the time I was fortunate to see him play live at the Empty Bottle here in Chicago. This was 2000/2001 or so and Fahey had been scheduled to play the Bottle in the summer or fall but he had to postpone due to health problems. The show was rescheduled for later that winter and I’m not sure if the show was poorly advertised or if it was because it was so goddamned cold but there was barely anybody there, maybe 30 or 40 people tops. Fahey was there with his wife and I remember that he was wearing a giant white t-shirt that appeared to be covered with food stains from multiple meals. I was excited when I noticed a lone acoustic guitar on the stage because at that time and for the few years previous he had been making electric guitar records and touring in that style. Fahey trudged up the stairs onto the stage and starting plucking away at his strings and tuning his guitar in a way that sounded pretty random and kind of bad to be honest. After about 15 minutes of listening to him minutely tweaking the tuning, it started to become quite clear that he had just been warming up and now he was ready to go. Surrounding his guitar with his hulking frame, he was now on a roll, attacking the instrument with a deftness that didn’t seem possible for such a big man. He could still play incredibly fast and he did for some time, seemingly improvising the whole time. I don’t remember him really ever stopping, he just played and played for 45 minutes or so. I had a few too many beers and I seem to remember spending the last 15 minutes or so of Fahey’s set drunkenly chatting with Don Cab drummer Damon Che about Fahey’s amazing playing instead of just paying attention, something I felt rather guilty about (and still do) when I found out about his passing just a few short months later. It still seems strange to me that so few people were there to see the legendary guitarist, who knows why that was, but I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to see one of John Fahey’s last ever live concerts.